Cleophas Malala alleges threats on his life

Cleophas Malala wept... Like the son of Nazareth, the Kakamega senator cried piteously before his colleagues on Monday, alleging a scheme by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to eliminate him.

He was addressing a joint sitting of the Senate committees on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights and National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations. The session was convened to have the Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai respond to security concerns raised by Mr Malala and other senators. 

“I am a young father, a husband and a representative of the people of Kakamega. It’s disheartening for officers, or a few people, to sit at a corner and think they can take away my life. I have said time and again that my life is in danger,” a teary senator told colleagues.

Mr Malala said senior officers had declined to beef up his security.  “No one is willing to give me extra security. It is sad for me to walk around the streets ... to know that I am going to die the next day,” he said.

Misleading the public

The senator added that some leaders were misleading the public that he had organised his own arrest last month for political reasons.  “The most painful thing is to see respectable leaders saying that I stage-managed my arrest, that I even sent the police my pin location,” said Mr Malala.

The claims on the floor of the House came days after Anyanga Malala, the senator’s lawyer, asked the IG and the Director of Criminal Investigations, Mr George Kinoti, to investigate a unit within DCI allegedly out to eliminate the lawmaker.

“Demand to disband, investigate and prosecute the Special Service Unit Assassination Squad Code Named “Bravo Zulu Yankee” assembled from the SSU (Special Service Unit) and earmarked to eliminate or assassinate our client Senator Cleophas Wakhungu Malalah,” the reference of the letter dated August 26 reads.

The lawyer claimed the “five members of the crack squad of assassin policemen” had held several meetings at the DCI headquarters executive lounge and at least on two occasions at Hotel La Mada, off Thika Road.

“At the Hotel La Mada, these officers were treated to sumptuous food and expensive drinks of their choice with the hefty bill footed by unnamed ‘masters’ and most probably using resources from tax payers. This you know is against the Police Service Standing Orders and is criminal conduct punishable under the laws of Kenya,” reads the letter, which is copied to the Clerk and Speaker of the Senate, Interior CS, the Attorney-General and the officers commanding Kakamega, Kitengela and Parliament police stations.

The squad is also said to have held meetings at Eaton Hotel in Thika town where it was allegedly briefed by a chief inspector from the Homicide Department at DCI Headquarters. They were allegedly armed with a semi-automatic rifle known as Scorpion.

Loss of life

“What emerges, if not exposed and left unchecked, could lead to injury of or loss of life of our client. This calls into question whether we are a country of laws where police uphold and enforce the law or a banana republic where elite officers become a bunch of goons for hire ready to break the law and injure, maim or even kill an elected member of parliament,” the letter reads.

The senator has fought off allegations of bribery in Parliament on several issues, ranging from the controversial revenue-sharing Bill, Governor Ann Waiguru’s impeachment process to plans to support a motion against the privatisation of sugar factories.

Last month, two young and vocal senators were said to be among legislators collecting funds from county governors to influence the fate of the county revenue-sharing Bill.

One of the senators, who has been a defender of the government, is said to have “eaten” from both sides, a situation that put him in a precarious position forcing him to play hide-and-seek with both sides.